Wherever you are you can use simple breathing exercises to steady your nerves.

If, like many riders, you’re a bag of nerves come competition day, your horse will feel those nerves too. As he senses your anxiety, it’s possible he’ll start to mirror what’s going on inside your head so, for some simple advice from our expert Caroline Putus, to help you maintain calm throughout your competition day, read on.

“When nerves take hold the most important thing to do is to ensure you ground yourself before you even start handling your horse,” says Caroline. “If you start to get anxious while handling, move away from your horse and calm yourself before going back. As soon as you start to feel uncomfortable, take a few calming breaths.”

Here are three simple tips to help:

1) Calm your breathing

Make your breathing as slow and rhythmical as you can

Breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth

Take twice as long to breathe out as you did to breathe in. This is the key. An easy way to do this is to count (e.g. breathe in to the count of three and out to the count of six)

2) Just relax

Relax your stomach and abdominal muscles - this will make you feel more relaxed and more grounded and your horse will respond to this

3) Use homoeopathy

The homoeopathic remedy Gelsemium is fantastic for performance nerves. Take one tablet on the day (only take this remedy as and when you need it)